ROBERTO BAGGIO

Roberto Baggio (Italian pronunciation: [roˈbɛrto ˈbaddʒo]; born 18 February 1967) is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a second striker, or as an attacking midfielder, although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions. A technically gifted, creative playmaker and a set piece specialist, renowned for his curling free-kicks, dribbling skills, and goalscoring, Baggio is regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all-time. In 1999, he came fourth in the FIFA Player of the Century internet poll,[17] and was chosen on the FIFA World Cup Dream Team in 2002.[18] In 1993, he was named FIFA World Player of the Year and won the Ballon d'Or. Baggio is known as Il Divin Codino (The Divine Ponytail), for the hairstyle he wore for most of his career, for his talent and for his Buddhist beliefs

Baggio made his Serie C debut with Vicenza on 5 June 1983, During the 1984–85 Serie C1 season, he scored 12 goals, helping the club to gain promotion to Serie B. Fiorentina purchased Baggio in 1985 for £1.5 million and in his first season with the club, Fiorentina finished in fifth place in Serie A and reached the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia, The season after, Baggio missed most of the season through injury but scored against Maradona's Napoli to save Fiorentina from relegation. Baggio led Fiorentina to a Coppa Italia quarter-final during the 1988–89, He also helped Fiorentina finish in seventh place in Serie A and win an UEFA Cup spot. Although Fiorentina were struggling against relegation during the 1989–90 season, Baggio led the club to the 1990 UEFA Cup Final, only to be defeated by his future club, Juventus. In 1990, Baggio was sold to one of Fiorentina's rivals, Juventus, for £8 million, the world record transfer for a footballer at the time. In his first season Juventus finished in seventh place in Serie A, outside the European qualification spots. However, Juventus did reach the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup that year. Juventus were also eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia to eventual winners Roma, In his second season, Juventus finished runners-up to Fabio Capello's Milan in Serie A,[46] and to Parma in the Coppa Italia final.

Baggio was appointed team captain for the 1992–93 season. He had a dominant season, winning the only European club trophy of his career after helping Juventus to the UEFA Cup final, in which he scored twice and assisted another goal over both legs. Juventus also reached the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia, finished fourth in Serie A that season. In the 1993-94 season, Juventus once again finished runners up to Milan in Serie A and suffered a quarter-final elimination in the UEFA Cup. In the 1994-95 season, Baggio suffered with knee injury but still contributed to his first Serie A title. He also helped Juventus win the Coppa Italia that year but Juventus were defeated in the Uefa Cup final by Parma. Baggio no longer featured in Juventus' plans and decided to focus on the emerging star Alessandro Del Piero, After a controversial move to AC Milan, he helped Milan win the Serie A title. Milan failed to retain their league title, finishing the season in a disappointing 11th place,[102] and they were knocked out once again in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia. Baggio made his UEFA Champions League debut in the 1996–97 season, but Milan were eliminated in the group stage. Milan also lost the 1996 Supercoppa Italiana to Fiorentina, Once again he was forced out of a club and made the move to Bologna, where he refound his form leading Bologna to an eighth-place finish. The season after, Baggio signed with his favourite childhood club Internazionale. Inter reached the quarter finals of the Champions League, 8th in Serie A and semi-finals of Coppa Italia. The season after, he fell out with new coach Lippi and enjoyed limited game time, as Inter finished 4th in the league and finalists in the Coppa Italia. Baggio ultimately transferred to Serie A newcomers Brescia, leading them to a joint seventh place in Serie A, quarter finals of the Coppa Italia, as well as the final of the 2011 Uefa Intertoto Cup, where they lost to PSG on away goals. The following seasons Baggio ensured they finished 8th and then 11th in the league with strong runs in domestic cup competitions. During the four years under Baggio, Brescia recorded their best ever Serie A run and were never relegated.

Baggio made his first appearance for Italy on 16 November 1988 at age 21 in a 1–0 friendly victory over the Netherlands, assisting Gianluca Vialli's match-winning goal. Baggio was called up for his first World Cup tournament in 1990, on home soil. Baggio was often used as a substitute, appearing in five matches. Baggio scored twice during the tournament, including the "goal of the tournament". Italy were eliminated on penalties against defending champions Argentina in the semi-finals after a 1–1 draw with Baggio influential during the knock out stages, Baggio was Italy's top scorer during their qualifying campaign for the 1994 World Cup, scoring five goals. Baggio was expected to be one of the stars of the 1994 World Cup, and After under-performing during the group stage, Baggio refound his form in the knockout stages, where he scored five memorable goals, taking Italy to the final against Brazil. Baggio was not fully fit for the final against Brazil at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, after pulling his hamstring during the semi-final and playing with the aid of a painkiller injection. The match ended 0–0 after extra time; he took Italy's last penalty in the resulting shootout, but his kick went over the cross-bar and the Brazilians won the title in one of the most upsetting moments in World Cup history. Baggio received the Silver Ball as the second-best player of the tournament, behind Romário, and the Silver Boot for finishing tied for second in goals scored.[202][203] He was also named in the World Cup All-Star Team. After a lengthy absence from the national team, Baggio was called up by Cesare Maldini for the 1998 World Cup, He had a strong tournament (scoring two goals and an assist, as well as scoring in a penalty shootout), though his game time was limited due to having to compete with Del Piero for the 'creative forward' position. Italy fell to eventual winners France in a penalty shoot out in the quarter finals. Baggio was controversially never called up for a major international tournament again, and was given an international send-off by Trapattoni at age 37 in a friendly match against Spain on 28 April 2004.